Hello family! My name is Finch. At the Rainbow Gathering this year in Washington, we sat in council about the currently defunct family newspaper, All Ways Free, and I volunteered to help revive it and focalize putting it together in time for the 2012 Rainbow Gathering, wherever it may be. I NEED YOUR HELP! No one person can write or put together a newspaper, and to be honest, I have never focalized anything for the family before, let alone a project of this magnitude. I have a few ideas about what needs to be done, but I welcome ALL advice and help from anyone, especially those who have been involved in publications like AWF and the Rainbow Guide in the past. Here are some things you can do to help me. 1. Write something for the paper! I am seeking submissions from everyone! A contribution could be a rainbow related poem, story, editorial, joke, drawing, heartsong, hipstory, announcement, etc...I am especially looking for hipstories from those who have been there and done that many times...histories of some of our various colorful traditions, the backgrounds of camps or kitchens, and so on. I would also like to hear 'virgin hipstories', stories brought back from first-time gatherers. I will also be looking into reprinting older articles from previous years of All Ways Free and other related publications. IF YOU HAVE ANY BACK ISSUES of All Ways Free, or any other rainbow-related zine or newsletter, I would absolutely love to see them for possible content inclusion. If you have anything like that, please email me and we'll work out a place for you to send them, or a way for me to see them online, or something like that. I need lots of submissions! The more the better! To send me your submissions, please send everything to rainbowtopkat@yahoo.com and I will also soon be renting a P.O. box in California where physical submissions can be sent. That will happen in August/September, and until then hold tight or use the email. 2. Spread the word! Send this email, or another one in your own words, to ALL your rainbow friends on facebook, in your email lists, in your address books, and in person. Word of mouth is still often the best method to reach people who don't live on the computer! 3. DONATE to the magic hat! This is one that can't be done immediately, because I have yet to set up a bank account just for AWF. So hold on to your money for now, but when I can (August/September) I will set up a bank account and a paypal drop that will be used ONLY for All Ways Free. I intend to print up a thousand copies if possible, so for a 30 page rag, that comes out to about $3,000 initially, plus any additional costs if they need to be shipped anywhere. I could use help if any family work in a print-shop or know a place where I could print off these papers (or some of them) for free or at a reduced cost. This paper will get done whether the donations are there or not! This means that I may have to go in debt by putting my own money on the line if necessary. I am trying to avoid that at all costs. If you have $10 to spare, or $20 or $50, you can help revive a paper which has been going on since the 80's. Just wait until I post the information for a magic hat drop-box, and then let the green energy flow! 4. Hold a fund-raising party or concert/benefit for All Ways Free! There are many ways to raise money for a cause, and bringing family together by means of a potluck or concert is a great one. If you are a promoter, organizer, or just plain have lots of friends, consider holding a special benefit party for the AWF magic hat. You can either do it via a $5 or so entry fee, or simply through a free 'donations requested' party. It is traditional not to use the rainbow name on anything with an entry fee, so if you call your party a rainbow party, please use the donation/magic hate method rather than a door charge. If you would like to charge money, use a different name and simply announce that the "Free people anarchist collective" or "pink gorilla party people" or whatever you want to call yourselves, will be DONATING all of its proceeds to the All Ways Free newspaper. If you are planning an event like this, please let me know so I can stay abreast of all that is happening! Again, stay tuned for a place to donate funds, as I have not yet set up a money drop box for the paper. 5. SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE! Though I have taken journalism classes and written articles for my local paper, this is the extent of my intimate knowledge of how to put together any newspaper, let alone one that holds the blessing of the Rainbow Family. If you have focalized before, worked on a paper before, or are simply a rainbow networker and know lots of people, please contact me and we can work on this together. I DO NOT WANT TO BE THE ONLY ONE PUTTING THIS PAPER TOGETHER! Please let me know if you would like to be on the team! If anything, I would like a few people to serve as council so we can all look at the finished product and discuss any content issues and reach consensus before it heads to print. I plan to post the AWF on the internet as well, but only after it has been printed and distributed at the 2012 Rainbow Gathering. ONE LAST IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! I will be dropping off the face of the internet from July 15th until about August 23rd. Please do not freak out if I don't answer your emails before then. I am STILL accepting submissions during that time, and will be catching up on everything when I return home. If there is anything important I have forgotten that might be useful, please tell me and I will revise the next iteration of this announcement! I love you all and am so excited to make this project a reality! Finch
To sow a garden , do you want to , sow a garden, i think about do you want to make a perfect world? right now they're making masses bow down, to hell maybe if people share these words, lets live together in a peaceful garden , we can rid the world of wickedness. lets rid the world of badmen, do you want to, rid the world of bad man? and live in paradise, make sure you people write about all of that
i would be down for sending in some lyrics or something but i've got no money at the moment. i've never done what you're trying to do, but i would think it'd be challenging to get people to donate any money to a complete stranger, even if you're for a good cause and legit. maybe i'm wrong, am hope i am.....but wish you the best! looking forward to seeing things progress
Well I'm not exactly a complete stranger...we had a council on the land at the Annual Rainbow Gathering about All Ways Free and I took the role as focalizer with the approval of all others there, including Marken from info, and Diamond Dave, the beat poet, who volunteered to do a benefit type event. Fantuzzi has told me he would be willing to do a benefit as well, and I have spoken with many of the coordinators and focalizers from previous All Ways Free issues, and they have offered me various support and advice. I have spoken to several heads of kitchens about submissions, and have gotten Patch Adams to agree to give me something to publish. In short, I'm not some slick rainbow kid trying to pull a scam on anyone. When I open up the magic hat bank account for AWF, my books will be completely transparent-anyone who asks me can have a full list of all donation amounts collected, and a complete account of all expenditures made (the first one will be paying for the P.O. Box rental, after that printing should be the only significant cost). AWF is a collaborative effort. If you care to get involved, feel free! This donation method is how AWF and the Rainbow Guide have traditionally been able to happen year after year. As I said, if I don't cover the costs with donations, I will be dipping into my own pocket to pay for printing costs.
Hey all! So the All Ways Free Summer 2012 edition is FINISHED! I did NOT have room or time to include EVERYONE's submissions, but if they are NOT in this issue, I have them SAVED for next issue! You can download the paper online; it is being hosted on Butterfly Bill's website at http://www.bliss-fire.com/AllWaysFree2012.pdf . I will be printing 1,000 physical copies, and will have them in time for the Cascadian Gathering in Oregon this week (and then the Annual the week after). I have found a printer who is ready to take on the job, and on all recycled paper. I have just about zero donations so far for printing. Green energy at this point would be MUCHO appreciated, and you can send it to me via paypal at weaselfinch@yahoo.com or you can email me at rainbowtopkat@yahoo.com for my snail mail address (the P.O. Box has expired, because I'm moving out of Santa Cruz this week) Or if you would like to donate by credit card, you can toss in some money to the All Ways Free WePay account at https://www.wepay.com/donations/all-ways-free . Also, if ANYone would like to volunteer to have 10, 20, 50, or 100 or more of these papers printed out yourself to bring to the National Gathering (or any regionals coming up) that would be FANTASTIC! I am imagining a magazine-style booklet on 11 by 17 paper printed on newsprint, but if your resources make it easier to do something else, that's wonderful too. Let me know if you're into this! Again, my email is rainbowtopkat@yahoo.com Cost after taxes and delivery fees, for 1,000 copies of a 40-page newspaper, on 100% recycled paper: $1,100.20 Taxes and fees should add another couple hundred, but I won't publish them till I have a receipt. Total extra expenses so far (PO Box, Business cards, scanning pages) $140 Total donations received: $115 Total amount the AWF has in its Magic Hat: -$1,125.20 Love you all, and looking forward to seeing you at hOMe! -Finch
Hey finch..it was awesome meeting you and im gnna write a story for.sure about my experiences there..doing the Krsna kitchen etc...lovin uuuuuu
